2016 Ferrari 488 Spider car review Top Speed Red bull.This brings the paradox. Because while the 488’s customer base is seemingly split between these hard-driving Alpha males and leathery debauchees, there’s only really a single car, one that now has the option of a neat folding hardtop.
It’s not long since buying an open-topped Ferrari meant making significant sacrifices beyond merely the increased risks of acquiring skin cancer and a much younger wife. Spiders were the dynamic inferiors to their metal-roofed sisters, trading the opportunity to work on your tan and to better appreciate their wailing soundtracks for less performance, less precision, and a noticeable reduction in structural rigidity. Inside, there’s much that looks familiar, with the photos showing aggressively bolstered, Daytona-style seats, conventional knobs and switches (no touch screen here), and a complete absence of column stalks. The multifunction steering wheel includes buttons even for lights, wipers, and turn signals, in addition to the damper setting, engine start, and Ferrari’s manettino chassis-control switch. Viewed through the steering wheel is the large, central tachometer with digital gear indicator, and it’s flanked by configurable screens. New seats and door panels are designed to make the interior more humane. A fresh key design mimics the shape of the engine’s intake plenums and permits passive entry and starting. Optional carbon-fiber trim can cover various parts of the interior (and the exterior aero fillips); also optional are a telemetry system like that in the LaFerrari and a 12-speaker, 1280-watt stereo. In technical terms, a DNA swab would not separate the two cars. Ferrari tried to develop a separate suspension tune for the Spider but then realized that it worked best with the exact same spring and damper settings as the GTB; the adaptable systems apparently are quick-witted enough to effectively cancel out the slight differences in mass and structural strength. Ferrari is particularly proud of the “vehicle response time” of six-hundredths of a second, this being the time between making a steering input and the car starting to react.
First, though, you’ve got to get your hands on one. There’s no word yet on pricing, but for reference, Ferrari currently asks $243,000 for a 458, so figure something north of there. For those special customers deemed worthy, deliveries of the 488GTB start in Europe in July, while U.S. buyers will have to wait until sometime in the latter half of 2015. Those who aren’t on the list will have their chance to see Ferrari’s new-generation sports car at the Geneva auto show—but the first stateside opportunity might not be until the Pebble Beach festivities in August.
First, though, you’ve got to get your hands on one. There’s no word yet on pricing, but for reference, Ferrari currently asks $243,000 for a 458, so figure something north of there. For those special customers deemed worthy, deliveries of the 488GTB start in Europe in July, while U.S. buyers will have to wait until sometime in the latter half of 2015. Those who aren’t on the list will have their chance to see Ferrari’s new-generation sports car at the Geneva auto show—but the first stateside opportunity might not be until the Pebble Beach festivities in August.